HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — The war of words between the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat should be at full tilt by tip-off tonight in Game 5 of the Eastern Finals, thanks to Pacers forward David West and center Roy Hibbert and their continued sniping about Heat forward Shane Battier being a “dirty” player.

“I always have to have my guard up and protect my knees when he’s on me,” West told reporters today. “He’s got this funny way of moving into your knees, so we’re very conscious of that. So we talk about protecting our knees. It’s an irritant. I’m doubly conscious of it because of my own knee issues (an ACL surgery before last season). You just know the way he plays, he’s trying to make an impact any way he can, so you just have to be prepared for everything.”

“It’s an irritant; when guys are bearing into your knees. I’m doubly conscious of it having an ACL (tear) a year and a half ago. I don’t know (if it’s an intent to injure), I just know the way he plays he’s trying to make an impact any way he can.”

Hibbert offered up his own assessment, calling Battier “dirty.”

“I know what (Battier) brings to the game and it’s worked for him in the past. He has to do whatever he has to do to make sure his team wins,” Hibbert said. “I’m going to watch my knees, watch my groin. … To tell you the truth, I don’t care. I’m in there, I’m playing tough. He has to do what he has to do. Obviously I don’t like it but it’s a part of the game. I don’t want to look back say I gave in to a dirty player.”

For his part, Battier is attempting to stake out high ground in this totally unnecessary debate about who should or should not be labeled as “dirty.”

“In a perfect world, we’d all love to be stoic, immovable forces where the force of very large men throwing themselves into you doesn’t affect you,” Battier said. “Yeah, that’d be great. But unfortunately, there’s a thing called physics involved that seems to win out more often than not.”

Playoff drama is one thing. Bickering and battling on the court is another. Calling out an opponent as “dirty” and suggesting that his aim to injure someone, however, crosses a line that no one involved here needs to, particularly at such a crucial stage of the series.

It makes for great theater, of course, heading into tonight’s Game 5 showdown (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT) . We’ll find out exactly how the Pacers deal with Battier and how the Heat respond to yet another shot from their new rivals in the East.

64 Comments

The Heat do it all they hit players in the back of the head, flop, knock other player down and various other fouls. The look surprised when they get a foul call. Don’t even mention the over penalizing other teams by the refs. Not a Heat or Pacers fan just waiting to see who will play the Best in the West(this year)! I must say these Pacers game has been some of the best Miami games I’ve seen. For some reason Miami games are boring to me, especially with the roster they have. Spurs, Lakers, Rockets & GSW and I’m a Thunder Fanatic!

To those Heat fans that say Shane Battier is not a flopper I got three words: HA HA HA!
Whatch the countless youtube videos and read the comments on this guy. He has developed flopping into an art form, I’ll give him that.

Players, reacting to dirty plays, flopping, pushing, shoving.. If the playoffs their playing right now is dirty, what do you call the era of the 80’s, 90’s? Maybe its your job to outwit your opponent to win a game right? Find a way. Legal or slightly illegal, find a way.

& also Battier isn’t a dirty player, he just acts soft, if he was dirty then why would he flop? How can you be pushed & tossed around but then be a dirty player?…Wade’s been hit in the mouth a lot of times in the past 2 series but still has yet to complain…I hate when I’m playing basketball & people get mad when they get fouled, IT’S BASKETBALL, THAT’S WHY THEY CREATED THE FREE THROW, CAUSE FOULS ARE PART OF THE GAME, IF IT HAPPENS & YOU DON’T GET A CALL DON’T BLAME THE FOULER BLAME THE REF SHEESH, it’s a game of grown men but yet all this complaining, & u fans that are taking the sides of the players complaining, do you wanna watch a game of basketball where contact is illegal?? The only thing that needs attention is the flopping & the refs bad calls & lack of calls, other than that, if you can’t handle the contact you shouldn’t be in the game

Y’all are a bunch of Heat haters, the only flopper they got is LeBron(at times), Battier is not a flopper, if you watch the replays you’ll see that THE FOUL IS THERE, he just doesn’t try to hold his ground, he lets his legs give out so he could fall & bring attention to the foul, if he holds his ground then he’d be letting the Pacers get away with fouls, then he’d might as well put on a Pavers jersey…but for those of y’all that are saying Wade, Allen, & Bosh are flippers? Y’all are just trying to make things up now, they don’t flop

everybody on this comment page is talking about the biggest flops and suprisingly they are only talking about guys on the heat. as far as flopping goes lance stephenson has earned that title in my mind, and hes actually a pretty dirty player as well.

The Mia Het are clerely the beter tem because they are beter then Papers Indianapolis. The mia her are best tem in usa.. I thik the mia het will wins the games. I sorry to papers tem because they are good to..

Shane Battier is a great player. Pacers should be talking about David West who is so aggressive. Hit Dwayne Wade in the back of the head no flagrant nothing. Also he lower it his shoulder running down the court in Mario Chalmers shoulder nothing happens again. He is the dirtiest player there is always pushing people. I felt the referee are calling the game in Pacers favor because they don’t want to see Miami in the playoff again. If you look at all the games so far Miami got more foul trouble than Indian. Roy Hibbert too pushing Bosh down but Bosh picks up the fouls instead. I think the league should go back and look at them. Wade got a flagrant foul for Stephenson West should have got 2 for Chalmers and Wade. They should call the games equally. Not just for Pacers.

Shane battier is good and feisty player who will do anything to win and every championship team has players like him. The Pacers just complain about everything because they know the heat are more talented. Just put your hard hat on and play ball.

There is no argument. battier is a dirty player. Mostly because he cant do his job against pacers Bigs. Difference here is pacers are asked these questions and are answering them with truth. the dirty plays will not stop them . but miami are babies because they go whining to the refs every time a call his made against them. Over and over again. that is so stupid whwn the chanps whine at refs like that. Yes refs make mistakes but geez i get so sick of Miami going to the refs every time. They do foul people. And west and hibbert are talking about low blows and knees. that is dirty. All players push and use elbows. but hitting the groin area and knees is just wrong.

Im a huge, repeat huge miami fan. However im really disappointed in the flopping in this series. Im still a huge lebron fan but i really dont like how he flops, it just makes the comparisn between MJ and any of the other older bball studs a joke when you see how the game is played today. Battier has always been a flopper, one of the best at taking a charge. Thats his game. I dont understand why lebron’s adopting that style of game. Indiana is one piece away from being the best in the east and that piece would be an upgrade at the SG position.

SO WHAT ITS MIAMI REF WONT CALL IT ANYWAY!!! HE BEEN DOING IT!! EVERY SERIES EVERY GAME!!! HE FLOPS EVERY GAME! THINGS I SEE WITH MY OWN EYES, LIKE D.WADE TRAVELING ALL THE TIME!!!I SERIOUSLY THINK D WADE THINKGS HE CAN TKAE 5 STEPS TO THE BASKET ! ITS DAVID STERNS WAY HE WANTS TO MAKE LEBRON THE NEXT KOBE BUT IM SORRY YOUR REIGN WILL BE SHORT LIKE A LEPRECHAUN

I WOULD COMMENT BUT HEN MY NEW YORK KNICKS CAME TO BAKERSFIELD ARENA YOU CHEATED US LEFT AND RIGHT WITH BAD OFFICIATING , AND FOR SOME STRANGE REASON DAVID STERN DIDNT FIND IT OFFENSIVE THAT YOU WERE COMMENTATING ON THE SERIES …REGGIE I JUST WANNA SAY NEW YORK HATES YOU AND PACERS I COULD CARE LESS BUT THIS IS A TASTE OF YOUR OWN MEDICINE U JUST GOT HUSTLED BY DAVID STERN ALL I CAN DO IS HOPE THE NBA WIL TIGHTEN UP NEXT SEASON

I don’t see Miami Players, Coaches, or Management complaining after every game… Can’t say that same about the Pacers. Now which team is full of Crybabies?
Shut up and play the game. Basketball Is Physical. Let it be a Man’s game or stay off the court.

LOL Battier is such a smarta$$, there’s as much physics in falling by one’s own accord as there is in being legitimately run into.

That being said, flopping and dirty play aren’t always the same. Flopping could be considered a type of dirty play, but Wade has examples of dirty plays which aren’t flopping (Rondo elbow, Kobe nose, Collison flagrant, Sessions groin, Stephenson elbow). Not that Wade doesn’t flop though. But I don’t think the flopping is what the Pacers are calling dirty, even though they addressed the issue. They are talking about Battier going at their knees and groins.

Everyone knows the heat are a flopping machine, LeBron got into it, Wade I’m which he never did before it’s starting to join in on the act. Battier is definitely a dirty player just like Bruce bowen was, now playing dirty hitting a player hard with a foul that’s ok the refs could see it and addressed it. But the little tricks dirty players get away with like an extra elbow to the legs, stomach pushoff but most importantly coming underneath a player not allowing g him to land properly after a jumpshot potentially causing major injuries bruce bowen was a master of this go YouTube.

I’m not sure what the debate is about…I can’t remember ever watching a game where Shane Battier DIDN”T make at least one play that seemed dirty and unnecessary. It seems to me Battier could have easily been slapped with a flagrant foul in game 1. That being said, I think the officials have had pretty bad with calls both ways, and both teams have done their share of flopping and making dirty plays. I just hope the NBA will continue to work on cleaning up the officiating.

Battier has and always will be known for being a tough, defensive minded player. You watch replays on any defensive minded player and they’re going to be doing little things to get the advantage over the other guy. It’s what you do to win

It is said to see Pacers players calling Battier a dirty player. He is one of the quiet and gentle guy upthere. Please be adult and just play the game. Pacers play a dirty game all the time and try to justify by calling that ” being thought” or hard on Miami….that’s just dirty. Hibbert and West should be ashamed on complaining like that on TV.

If you call Battier a dirty player then you have to say West is a dirty player. West is more physical than Battier. That statement and accusation on Battier is just ridiculous. Just play basketball and let the winner (hopefully Miami) emerge.To me the Bulls are a dirty team coached by a dirty coach. That is my opinion. The Miami had to play against the Bull’s team and that was too physical and unnecessary banging. I just don’t see this in the Pacer/Miami Series.

shane battier IS a dirty player, so are the rest of the NBA players. unfortunately, NBA is a big boys’ game. i remember when the Nuggets ganged-up on Steph Curry, and the commentators are quick to depend the dirty players. this is a commercially backed game. part of it are the elbowing, pushing, and all the dirty plays. maybe they are loosing the essence of the REAL basketball game. if you really want to watch a REAL basketball game with REAL talents, watch the COLLEGE BASKETBALL. NBA? spectacular, full of talented and amazing players, BUT….you are right…DIRTY…..!!!

If you remember last year, Indiana was just a worse team that tried to play with a chip on their shoulder. What ended up happening was j them pretty much picking a fight because they knew they were going to lose. It was annoying.

This year, they’re a better team. But even though they’re determined to be a “rival” of Miami, it’s pretty obvious who’s going to win…

“it’s pretty obvious who’s going to win”…??? Really? Last time I checked, the series was tied 2-2. We have had 1 blowout victory for Miami, and the rest were tightly contested. The first game was so close that it was decided in the last 2.2 seconds. This could easily be a 3-1 series in favor of Indiana. How do you figure it’s obvious? Miami is hanging on by a thread against a much younger opponent. Everyone outside of Miami can see that.

Who won the Western conference? It sure as wasn’t the younger talented team #1 defensive team in d NBA, Grizzles.. So I don’t put age as much as I regard experience and wisdom .. So when Mia play as they should Pacers don’t hv a chance in winning this game 5 third quarter has proven that so shut up sit bk and watch Miami do their thing…

People said Miami was obvious to lose no more games this series after the game three blowout. Indiana won game 4. One thing I’ve learned is to expect nothing and just enjoy the show. This is still anybody’s series with a slight edge for Miami. At this point even though Pacers are my favorite in the east I just want this series to end. Too much Hollywood antics and drama

At one time Battier could move his feet well enough to guard wing players. He can’t do that anymore so now he has to try to guard and rebound with bigger, stronger players and obviously that is a challenge. In this series, he is pretty much a liability since her can’t effectively rebound, defend or hit a shot.

I think it is a mistake for the NBA to allow less talented players to beat on the talented ones that fans actually pay to watch but as long as they call the games the way they do how can you blame Battier for doing anything he can to stay in the league.

David West isn’t exactly the poster boy for fair play, and just got hit with a fine. Give me a break. Miami says anything about another team and “the are soft or crying”. The other team does it and “oh my god you’re so right, they are dirty”. I know the majority of basketball fans hate Miami. It’s all good. Just sit back and watch them come out on top.

I totally agree with you. Everybody always says that miami is a bunch of crybabys, that they flop, etc… But then the pacers are flopping, playing dirty, and complaining, and a lot of fans say that is just tough guys playing tough and that their complaints are justified. Give me a break

First off miami is a flopping crybaby, no doubt about that. Battier been a flopper his whole career and still flops. Lebron us starting to flop. Chris bosh is always weaker than his oppenent so he tends to flop. Ray allen and wade do it every now and then. Only problem the pacer r trying to flop to now but they dont know how to. Last game lance tried to flop like 5 times but he doesnt have the experience in it like a battier. Miami does flop and cry but the pace r joining them thinking its not hard if they can get calls so can we unfornatuly pacer arent good at it do to lack of experience in it.

You both forget that the issue of Indiana (flopping?) has only come around since this last game? What would wade getting pushed by casper out of bounds. Oh sorry to you heat fans he tripped right? Dont cry and whine now if another team gives you a dose of your own medicine

Pacers are my eastern conference favorite, but if I could tell them one thing and it’d be heard it would be “shut up and play!” Miami are crybabies, but right now the pacers are looking pretty deserving of said title too. Sound better?

I`m not saying that miami players don’t flop or any of the other things, I’m not going to start that argument. What I’m saying is that now the Pacers are talking and flopping and nobody says anything about them.

For sure Miami will come out on top in some year in the future, but not this season. They can try to play tough but we all know they’re older and get more muscle fatigue than the younger Pacers. They might have mental toughness tonight but their body won’t be there to do what they think they can do. Especially D wade and CB.